Gen. Mattis is clashing with the Trump transition team over appointments

Former Gen. James Mattis, Trump's pick for secretary of defense, is upset with the Trump transition team because they didn't seek his input on the selection of secretary of the Army, reports CNN.

Mattis was angry at his exclusion from the decision-making process and threatened to quit his position if the transition team tried to make more appointments without him, leading to Vice President-elect Mike Pence having to smooth things over with the retired general.

Mattis was specifically upset that the transition team had tried to appoint businessman Vincent Viola without consulting him.

The general became concerned about Viola after learning of questionable stock trading that had taken place in Viola's firm.

Mattis thought the trading issue should have been raised before the announcement.

Great transition at DoD. Reports to contrary completely false and come from sources who do not have any knowledge of our transition efforts https://t.co/NwzWxLW4sj